Catheter-associated urinary tract infection in primary and community health care

Abstract

Limitations in the quality and consistency of catheter-related information collected by healthcare services present a major obstacle to robust epidemiological analysis of risk and impact of CAUTI in primary and community care. Standardised routine data collection is essential to determine the magnitude of risk associated with CAUTI, to enable the development of a longitudinal database of long-term catheterised patients and to provide base-line data against which infection-control initiatives in primary and community care can be evaluated.